Carrie Manning

One difference I noticed in the difference between Manning and Pitcher is their focus on the international influences on Mozambique. Where I would say, generally, Pitcher is critical of commercial involvement in Mozambique, Manning views donor participation as a partnership.

Most surprising in Carrie Manning’s chapter on Semi-presidentialism is the elite conversations that happen behind closed doors between Frelimo and Renamo after disputed elections. These elite talks, I would argue, exist as checks and balances, not unlike those seen in the American system. It seems the current Mozambican system of elite discussion keeps the peace between these two parties. However, I do wonder, with the presidential position maintaining such complete power after the 1992 peace accords, who does the president answer to? Perhaps this elite conversational power sharing exists as a response to Frelimo’s power monopoly since 1975.

Another thing I find interesting is the political presence of women in parliament in Mozambique. Luisa Diogo has been the Frelimo prime minister under both Joaquim Chissano and Armando Emilio since the 2004 elections. Manning writes, “At least a decade younger than her predecessors, Diogo is the first prime minister not to have been involved directly in the liberation struggle” (Manning 131). Also, Diogo was not a high-ranking official within Frelimo before her appointment as prime minister, as her qualifications lay outside Fremlio. I believe her inclusion shows Frelimo’s shift from an elite group, as seen during the socialist period from 1975-1992, to a party willing to evolve and progress. As Manning states, “She is widely credited with helping to guide Mozambique’s neo-liberal-based economic recovery” (Manning 132).

I would like to ask former President Chissano what made him choose Diogo for appointment, and how did Diogo’s role as prime minister help or hinder Mozambique’s transformation to democracy, and subsequent inclusion in the global market?

-Works Cited-
Manning, Carrie L. The Politics of Peace in Mozambique: Post-Conflict Democratization, 1992-2000. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2002.